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Hyde Park Angels
Operators and executives in the Chicago and wider Midwest business community who want to invest capital and expertise in early-stage companies
A profile page holds what the organization publishes and what named sources report: who it admits, what it costs, how it is structured, where it operates, and how it has changed. Every figure carries the date it was checked. A dash means the organization does not publish that fact.
Founding: Formed by classmates from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Executive MBA programme; the group dates its investment record to 2006.
Hyde Park Angels is a Chicago early-stage investment organisation formed in 2006 by University of Chicago Booth Executive MBA classmates. It describes a people-first model that pairs member operating expertise and networks with capital, and says its membership of more than a hundred entrepreneurs, executives and venture capitalists supplies strategic help as well as money. Member deal teams run due diligence, negotiate terms and take board seats. Typical cheque sizes into portfolio companies are reported at $250,000 to $2 million at seed and Series A. Portfolio names include ShipBob, Clearcover, FourKites, Simple Mills and Factor, with exits to Flowers Foods, HelloFresh and Certinia. Since 2022 the entity has been registered with the SEC as an exempt reporting adviser and with Illinois since 2023, which indicates it manages pooled vehicles alongside individual member investment. HPA does not publish membership requirements, dues or a minimum investment commitment anywhere on its public site; prospective members are directed to speak to the organisation privately.
How it works
Companies are sourced through the network and a partner programme and are reviewed by members. Member deal teams conduct diligence, negotiate terms and often take a board seat at the company after investment. Warm introductions are the preferred route in for founders. HPA also files as an exempt reporting adviser, consistent with running pooled vehicles for member capital.
Typical member
Members are described as entrepreneurs, executives, venture capitalists and board directors. Member deal teams run diligence, negotiate terms and take board seats, so the group selects for people willing to work on deals rather than only fund them.
Membership requirements
Requirements in detail, with history →Requirements are the tests the organization itself publishes: an age ceiling, a company-revenue floor, a net-worth minimum, a role. Where a figure straddles a range, the organization's own assessment decides. Local chapters can apply stricter tests than the published standard.
| Criterion | Published requirement | Provenance |
|---|---|---|
| Accredited-investor status | Accredited-investor status is not stated on HPA's own site; the group is listed as an accredited angel group in the Gust angel-group directory | Verified September 2026Low confidenceSource ↗ |
| Other criterion | Members are expected to be active: deal teams run diligence, negotiate terms and take board seats | Verified September 2026Medium confidenceSource ↗ |
Published criteria as verified on the dates shown. Final eligibility and admission decisions belong entirely to Hyde Park Angels. See how you compare against these criteria →
Initiation fees are paid once on joining; dues recur. Chapter dues, retreats, travel and events are usually additional and are listed separately when the organization discloses them. Figures are as published or reported on the date shown, not quotations.
| Cost | First year | Three years | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual dues | Not publicly disclosed. An affiliated member-recruiting page invites prospective members to contact HPA to learn "what membership takes - the time, the money, and what you get back". | Source ↗ | |
| Initiation fee | Not publicly disclosed | ||
Structure and programming
Independent context
HPA has drifted from a conventional angel group toward something closer to a venture firm with an active member base: the current site drops the phrase "angel group" in favour of "leading early-stage investor", and the entity became an SEC exempt reporting adviser in 2022. That matters for anyone comparing it with Houston Angel Network or CTAN, which publish dues and let members sit on cap tables in their own names. HPA publishes nothing about the cost or obligations of membership; an affiliated recruiting page tells prospective members to contact the group to learn "the time, the money, and what you get back". A $50,000 minimum annual investment commitment circulates on third-party aggregator sites but appears on no primary source and could not be independently verified. Expect a private, referral-driven admission process.
Editorial analysis by Peer Group Guide editors. It is separated from the record above and follows the editorial policy.
Similar organizations
Alternatives, grouped by need →History and changes
Site-wide change log →- milestoneFounded in Chicago by classmates from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Executive MBA programme ↗
- milestoneRegistered with the SEC as an exempt reporting adviser (SEC number 802-126588) ↗
- milestoneRegistered as an exempt reporting adviser in Illinois ↗
- mergerPortfolio company Simple Mills acquired by Flowers Foods ↗
- mergerPortfolio company Moonnox acquired by Certinia ↗
Milestones as published by the organization or reported by a named source. “Record” entries are changes to this site’s own record of the organization, kept in the public change log rather than overwritten.
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Sources
- Home — HPA, Hyde Park Angels. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
- About Us — HPA, Hyde Park Angels. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
- Our Members — HPA, Hyde Park Angels. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 2
- Hyde Park Angels, Inc. — Investment Adviser Firm Summary (CRD/IAPD 319762), US Securities and Exchange Commission (IAPD), March 2026. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 5
- Hyde Park Angels — Accredited Angel Group, Gust. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 8
- Hyde Park Angels — membership, Avocation Investments. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 8
- HPA: The Early Stage Founder's Guide, Superscout. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 8
Source tiers follow the published hierarchy: 1 official site · 2 official membership materials · 3 application documents · 4 annual reports · 5 government filings · 6 reliable business publications · 7 credible interviews · 8 other reputable secondary sources. Sources and data policy.
Is something wrong or out of date?
Represent Hyde Park Angels? Verified representatives can submit corrections to fees, criteria, chapters and contact details, and add approved material. Submissions are reviewed by an editor and shown as organization-supplied; they never overwrite independent research.